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Case Studies

Case Studies

Culture-Heritage-Market-Research

Understanding Emotional Engagement with Museums

We were commissioned by the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and Art Fund to investigate which emotions drive public support for museums, why certain emotions are more powerful than others, and how museums might use these emotions to channel support amongst their communities as we emerge from the pandemic, but continue to face potentially challenging times. The intended output was a research report and toolkit which could be used to support museums to better engage on an emotional level with communities (of place and interest) moving forward and in a more consistent way.

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Case Studies

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) Cost of Living and Travel Behaviour Change Study 2023

TfWM commissioned M·E·L Research in February 2023 to undertake the study, gathering responses from over 1,000 residents across the West Midlands Combine Authority area, to understand how the cost of living is impacting on people in their travel choices and their awareness of and appetite for alternatives to car usage. Results were representative by local authority area, age, gender and car ownership.

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Case Studies

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Understanding LGBTQIA+ and heterosexual usage and perceptions of dating apps

M·E·L Research provided advice and consultancy on the quantitative questionnaire design and study design, as well as undertaking the fieldwork with potentially hard to reach audiences and providing cleaned data for use in an academic study. The survey, which aimed to collect data on the usage of dating apps during COVID-19 pandemic, the experiences of using the apps, and the impact this usage had on loneliness and resilience, using specialist scales, was delivered via an online methodology to ensure responses were anonymous and candid.

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Case Studies

UNBOXED: Audience profiling, evaluation and willingness to pay for a cultural mega event

‘UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK’ was a programme of public activity intended to celebrate the creativity and interconnectivity between science, technology, maths, engineering and the arts (“STEAM”), delivered through ten large-scale projects, which took place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and online in 2022. Monitoring data shows that UNBOXED engaged a total audience of 20.5 million across the four nations of the UK. We undertook a mixed-method quantitative approach including approx. 5,000 F2F surveys at events, ~6,000 online surveys post-event, and interviews with schools and Commission partners including volunteers and freelancers.

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Case Studies

Culture-Heritage-Market-Research

Creative City Grants: Process & Outcomes Evaluation

The Creative City Grants Programme was funded through a £2 million grant from Birmingham City Council. The programme aimed to be a catalyst to increase community-led artistic creation and boost local pride and funded in excess of 100 individual projects across the creative and heritage sectors in Birmingham during the Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival. The evaluation used a mixed methods approach to engage with all 106 of the projects in a tiered way, with sampling undertaken to account for the range of project type in terms of format, offer, audience and geography among other considerations.

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Case Studies

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Temporary Accomodation for West Midlands Homelessness Task Force

M·E·L Research was commissioned by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Homelessness Taskforce to undertake a research project into families in temporary accommodation (TA) across the region). The taskforce was established in 2017, and is committed to identifying and addressing gaps in policies, procedures, laws, structures, systems and relationships that either cause or fail to prevent homelessness. Temporary housing for families is an integral part of homelessness provision and one that is currently used at a high level and presents real challenges to both households using it an organisations providing it.

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Case Studies

Health and wellbeing social research agency

Covid-19 response to seldom heard groups in Buckinghamshire

The Public Health team at Buckinghamshire Council asked us to carry out research to support their Covid-19 recovery planning and response. We used an entirely qualitative approach to speak to stakeholders and residents among communities at risk from or vulnerable because of coronavirus.

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Case Studies

Health and wellbeing social research agency

Evaluation of Keighley Community Health Grants Social Prescribing Programme

M·E·L Research were commissioned to carry out an independent evaluation of the Keighley Community Health grants programme, a programme that aimed to improve health outcomes for people in Keighley by supporting both community groups and community businesses to engage with social prescribing.

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Case Studies

Environment and Climate Research and Evaluation

Biffa Award Impact Evaluation

Since 1997, Biffa Award has awarded grants to community and environmental projects across the UK. To date, nearly £180 million has been awarded to thousands of projects. An evaluation was delivered which focused on the impact the fund has had on projects from 2015 to 2020.

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Case Studies

Hands in a circle Employee Experience Research Agency

Surrey County Council Organisation Wide and Quarterly Pulse Surveys

Surrey County Council commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver two research programmes. The first was an organisation-wide Staff Survey, and the results from this survey were also used as a baseline for the quarterly pulse surveys which were introduced in January 2021 and which will continue until 2026.

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Case Studies

Flashing Light - Emergency Services Market Research Company

National Fire Chiefs Council Leadership Project Research

The National Fire Chiefs Council’s People Strategy has six key areas for improvements of which Leadership is key to all. A Leadership Project has been established by the NFCC to form a response to the challenges facing current and future leaders in the Fire Sector. M·E·L Research worked with the Leadership Project team to explore demand, buy in and perceived challenges in four key workstreams within the Leadership Programme (Coaching and Mentoring, Talent Management Direct Entry, and Supervisory Leadership).

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Case Studies

Yellow house to show Housing Market Research

NUS & Unipol Accommodation Costs Survey

A student accommodation cots survey has been running for since the late 1960. M.E.L Research supported the roll out and analysis of the 2021 iteration in partnership with Unipol and the NUS, with the resulting report published in December 2021. Overall, responses accounted for 473,684 bed spaces. This marks a high point in the survey’s history and represents 68 per cent of the purpose-built student accommodation sector, up from a 60 per cent participation rate in 2018/19.

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Case Studies

Local Environment

East Park Consultation for Wolverhampton City Council

M·E·L Research was commissioned to help the Council with a resident engagement programme which sought to engage all sectors of the community. To understand who and where East Park communities of interest were, a stakeholder mapping exercise was undertaken before planning targeted engagement activities. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to consult with local communities to capture their views on the future of East Park including household surveys (for those in a 1 mile radius of the park), a supplementary young persons’ survey, in-park surveys and wider qualitative engagement with local schools and community groups.

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Case Studies

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Evaluation of Council Tax Incentives in Wales

We evaluated local implementation and delivery of the four Council Tax intervention measures introduced and assessed the impact of these measures on residents and councils. We carried out a survey of all local authorities in Wales, with an English and Welsh version, carried out an online focus group with care leavers and interviewed seven representative organisations in Wales, feeding all results into a joint report with a policy consultancy partner.

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Case Studies

Engaging Schools, Learners and Employers for Warwickshire County Council

In order to evaluate the impact of the ‘Skills for Employment’ initiative WCC commissioned M·E·L Research to conduct qualitative research with education providers (schools and colleges) and businesses. The research objectives were to gather additional facts and data on the impact of the programme; obtain feedback on awareness of the programme; obtain feedback on the administration of the programme; ascertain what specific difference (if any) it has made to young people, education providers and businesses.

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